Sunday, November 18, 2012

The Night Of The Scavengers

They were waiting. Waiting to commence their orgy of hate and venom.
Nothing said it better than Sreenivasan
Jain’s opening lines on NDTV last night: “Let’s quickly
run you through the events which led to Balasaheb Thackeray finally breathing
his last”. Yeah! You see, the scavengers who were hovering around
Matoshree, the residence of BT, and in TV studios finally heaved a sigh of
relief. BT finally breathing his last? Hmm! It’s as if for over 2 days the man
was threatening to die and kept crying wolf. He finally breathed his last so
that our TV anchors who had kept a script ready over the last 2 days could
finally release their hatred and venom. Bal
Thackeray died around 3.30pm on November 17 and gave the signal to people
like Sreenivasan Jain, Rajdeep Sardesai,
Shoma Chaudhury to vent their pent
up disgust for a long time. Girish Karnad holed up his hatred for Naipaul for
10 years but hard to tell how many years these media crooks had holed up their
hatred for BT. They were ready! They were prepared! They even knew who to call.
I can’t help recalling this one from Robert De Niro in the landmark ‘Taxi Driver’:

“All the animals come out at night,

Whores, Buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies.

Sick! Venal! Someday, a real rain will come

And wash all this scum off the streets”

November 17 was the night of the scavengers. They had waited patiently
for over 2 days with their claws sharpened and their teeth waiting to bite into
their prey. Today is just as special. November
18 marks the 2nd anniversary of Radiagate. It’s the day when the tip of
the underbelly of our media was exposed. This time around the media celebs didn’t
wonder “Oh God! So now what? What should
I tell them? Tell me what should I tell them”? They were prepared with the
script. It was being prepared since the evening of November 14.

The ‘Breaking news’ specialist, Bhupendra
Chaube of CNN-IBN, stayed late
in office on November 14 hoping to break the news. He wasn’t sure it will
actually break. But hey, hope is a good thing, isn’t it? Nothing wrong when
your boss is an inspiring character. So Chaubeji was taking a cue from his
boss, Rajdeep Sardesai, who had to
probably stay back even after his goodnight kiss. I wonder why Rajdeep
frequently complains life isn’t easy as a journalist. I guess that probably comes
from hallucinating that he’s a journalist. I’d have to say he may have been a
journalist some 200 years ago, now he’s more of a BT’s caricature that passes
for a journalist. And if he whines so much about even imagining he’s a
journalist he does have the chance to quit and follow his more respected
pursuit of…. you know what. BT will not be counted as the greatest of
politicians who ever walked this holy land. Like all politicians he had his
good bits and his bad bits. For a long time he was more of a trade union leader
than a regular politician.

That CNN-IBN was desperate to see BT die was reflected in the haste
with which they are reported to have flashed
his death at 7.12 am on November 15. A very observant viewer caught this
flash and tweeted about it. And someone else picked up that flash too. Who
could it be! Oh.. the ever-loving Digvijaya
Singh indeed. Naturally, at 7.23 am November 15 he tweeted about BT’s
demise and expressed condolences. Rajdeep responds to him stating BT is still
alive. Although Digvijaya claims some friends informed him the news I have
little doubt where he or his friends got that news from. Diggy can be forgiven
for the goof up. But the media moron who clarified the facts to him or his
channel didn’t carry the slightest bit of apology to viewers for flashing a
wrong news item. Where in the world would one see such enthusiasm for death of
a person? Only Indian TV news channels I guess. Rajdeep Sardesai, Sreenivasan
mostly got the panellists they like and who can be expected to be harsh on BT’s
political life. You had the pompous Dileep
Padgaonkar (who once thought his job was the 2nd most important after the
PM’s as he repeated an earlier TOI editor’s claim) and, of course, the ever
foul-mouthed Shoma Chaudhury of some
Tabloid. To rephrase the line from a famous song; they stabbed it with their steely knives and hoped to kill the beast.

In contrast to the raucous anchors at NDTV and CNN-IBN the usually
noisy Arnab Goswami was quite sedate
and sensitive given the occasion. He replayed some of his interviews from the
past with BT (2007 and 2011). In both interviews BT made some very valid
points:

On why all Muslims were being tarred as terrorists BT responds with the
question that if Godse was the killer of Gandhi why houses of many Brahmins were
burnt. That’s right! Merely because Godse was a Brahmin; why should other Brahmins
be killed? In response to the Bombay riots of 1993 BT raises a very pertinent
question: Babri masjid was in UP and was brought down in UP, where was the need
to unleash violence in Bombay? And if that happens, BT is typically the person with
the party that would retaliate. As recently as August 2012 a Muslim mob carried
out acts of violence at Azad Maidan just over fake pics of killings of Muslims
in Burma. BT is right! What entitles
these people to riot, kill and destroy property in Mumbai for something
happening in Burma or in any other corner of the world? This is a constant
problem that Indian society faces. The brand of Hindutva that BT practiced was
in retaliation to the govt and the spineless media covering up such crimes. But
BT wasn’t always a Hindutva guy. I am not a great admirer of BT, his party or
their methods but the kind of delightful orgy that some in our media went into
over his death only strengthens the belief that these are the really uncouth,
uncivilised ones in our drawing rooms.

BT’s politics and methods aren’t those that were ever meant to or will
have permanency. These were responses to situations that confront societies or
regions frequently and the Hindus too. This is situational politics, just as
Arvind Kejriwal’s movement against corruption is not meant to be permanent. Regardless
of what brand of politics he practiced it is undeniable that BT had a strong
influence on Maharashtra and also national politics. So if not his Bimbo deputy
editor, Rajdeep takes it upon himself to ask the stupidest questions in a bad
time. He pollutes the airwaves with his ignorance and suggests when Netas die a city doesn’t shut down.
Someone pointed out that when YSR died the whole state of AP had shut down. Of
course, Rajdeep only talked about Delhi not shutting down. It seems fine with
him if instead of shutting down, a Delhi Neta’s death can result in the death
of over 3000 people. After all,for the moronery of Rajdeep and his ilk, a savage blood bath is not exactly the ‘shut
down’ of a city, is it? People were out in Delhi in 1984 being busy with
killing. No? That was a night of scavengers too.

So one hopes the scavengers had their fill and will have a great
Sunday. Only one problem! This Sunday also happens to be the second anniversary
of the Radiagate expose. How did our media fall to such lows in their
discussions, debates and their hatred? Well, quite a few people deserve the
credit for that. It is only appropriate that I quote someone who wonders about
the same question too. Seriously, I don’t really think the “nuance” is quite
lost on people. Reminds me of David Bowie: “Year of the scavenger, season of the bitch... (There's gonna be sorrow)
try and wake up tomorrow... They call them the Diamond Dogs”.

40 comments
:

As always.. EPIC!!! I was writing a post myself about second ring aspiring divas..a debate by sunetra of ndtv..and today I got news of BalaT demise... my first reaction was.. now the dogs and bitches will go amok and they did as expected.. such a shame...

Not even a single media celeb reported even one single positive thing about BalaT.. they failed to ask simple question.. why such love and respect among aam admi of mumbai for BalaT? they never tried understand..all they had was venom...

Very timely and great write up Ravi. Your knowledge, research and in depth analysis leaves these MSM morons miles behind.

I am sure when these guys/gals will die even scavengers will not touch their poisonous bodies and there will be none with tears, even Senileka Ghose, Soma Chaudiri or Choubeyeaeen! No one will miss them when they kick the bucket!

What a shame to see behaviour of these MSM in India. Digvijay is utterly presdictable, knowing what a big Ass$$$$ he is.

I am 100% sure even Rajdeep Sardesai's Dog which he apparently walks with in the morning won't give rat's ass when his time comes to leave this world...Shame on these people who ridicule a man at the time of his death...If u have hatred against a man it's ur personal opinion...why come on National TV just to spit venom? Absurd! Great article Ravi...keep going!!!

In someone's death, we try to see the positive things in that person. We recall the good deeds this person had done in his life time. We recall the happier times we have spent with this person. We remember this person for what he was for all his good qualities.

Sadly, NDTV and CNN IBN turned out to be the worst possible channels this country will ever see. On a day when a person is dead, they tried their level best to attack him for what they perceived to be his wrong deeds, wrong actions and wrong qualities.

As normal citizens we do not do this even to our enemies, to those with whom we have had disagreements and strained relationships. Even to them we pay homage.

Have our media people become so sick that they cannot even respect the dead? For one day?

MSM had projected "Hindus" as the "Most Radical Right-Winged" mindless "Zombies".it saddens me the most and I feel very "Radical" or say "non-secular" to call myself as a "Hindu" in public places.It is the very becoming of a "Stigma".It takes a little to understand that when "some-sections-of-society-or-community" or "some-bad-elements" or "Mobs" does something "bad" (like in Hydarabad yesterday ) it becomes an "outrage" and when some "Hindu" does something it becomes "an-act-of-Radicalism" and is act of "Hindutva-wadi-saffron-terrorism"..:'(

This is the precise reason you should assert you are a Hindu and take pride... only that will defeat sickulars.. if you feel nonsecular in public spaces you are not a hindu then.. coz hindu by default is secular!!!

The insensitivity with which MSEM (main-stream English media) is carrying the story is really appalling. The Marathi channels are far more sensitive and sensible. Nikhil Wagle's IBN Lokmat, known to be politically not in agreement with Hindutva, is doing a good job. They are discussing his personality, how he impacted millions of people, and their criticism is objective. The national celebs need to learn from local guys.

I’m amazed at RJ’s tweet…I own a store in Mumbai and keep that closed today as a mark of respect for this icon of Mumbai and Maharashtra….I am not a Marathi maanoos by birth. I am not a supporter of the SS….but I am not an ungrateful Mumbaikar like some MSM….Firstly I thank BT for protecting my ass during the 1992 riots…I thank him for the encounter squads in the Mumbai police that got rid if the D and G gangs so today the women of my city who work late nights in call centers, five star hotels, airlines etc..can come home even at 2 A.M. …I thank him for the flyovers in my city…..I thank him for the Mumbai Pune expressway….I thank him for the Bandra - Worli sea link… I thank him for clean drinking water 24 x 7….I thank him for clean roads….I would also like to thank him for any other contribution that he may have made to this city that I may not be aware of….I hope god gives the strength and wisdom to his heir so that none of the above evil rears its ugly head to destroy this city which my family has made home and as a Hindu lived protected lives….Today the tiger that protected me has fallen as certain events unfold worldwide I realize we may need his leadership and courage in days to come…My middle finger to the MSM..REST IN PEACE SIR… thank you for standing the wall so that the aam admi could sleep.

I would like to request again to all here.. stop using Rest In Peace... it is against the very ideology that BalaT stood for... there is no rest for a soul in hinduism.. His was great soul and will be back soon in another form for other great deeds... stop this semitic way of mouring by saying rest in peace... damn you guys! still have not recognized how the words/ways of cults of deserts affected you???

The first tweet by RS: Could be a long night, lets hope not!. I can't explain the amount of disgust I felt on reading it. Here is a person wishing another person to die, and early too, just because he doesn't agree to his ideology. There is absolutely no doubt that these so called journalists are hell bent on tearing away the Indian cultural fibre. There is no religion or faith in world that rejoices in death of a person or indulges in diatribe against a person who is not present anymore in this world. Calling these people sick would be too less a thing.

These hyenas were just waiting for BT to be gone so that they could vent their spleens, something they could've never done when BT was alive.

Dear Ravi! Thanks for a wonderful critique of MSM moronery and their unfeeling attitudes on the demise of someone of Balasaheb's stature. Our MSM and the shining stupids who mascared as know-alls are in one word SICK.But should that change the facts? Never. Let the Shoma Chaudaries and Dileep Padgaonkars badmouth Balasaheb...it only exposes their shortcomings and do next to nothing to diminish Balasaheb's staure or the value of his contributions to Marthi pride or Maharashtra's politics.To be honest, Balasaheb was never a Politician in the conventional mould. He was an honest thinker and cartoonest who reacted on the spurr of the moment...and reacted strongly too. The pertinent questions that he raised from time to time had rendered many an expert voiceless. He certainly gave that sense of pride and high decible to Marathi Manus and Marathi Asmita [pride].Unlike the clever by half English channels, Nikhil Wagle was sensible and spoke with poignance to suit the occasion. So much so that even someone like Kumar Ketkar spoke with great respect and prsented some wonderful analysis of Balasaheb the person, the cartoonist and the politician. That was indeed quite heartening. I know, the MSM morons shall behave exactly like barking dogs while the Elephant walks unaffected. You may like him or hate him; you may agree or disagree with him...Balasaheb's stature or his contributions are factsof life...a matter of history, which can not be wiped out. Let his departed soul rest in peace.Thanks and regards - K R Vaishampayan

Due to final procession of BT, these MSM morons may prepare a report on BT that may state loss of more than Rs20,000 crores, number of people out of work and the cancellation of transport services, SRK, Salman, Katrina's shooting, disruption of normal life, and at 9pm they may compose a special program on "Does this secular modern India need people like BT who disturb normal life on their final journey"...

Thanks Ravi for this article. It has been a sad day for maharashtrians and many gujaratis too and many other non-maharashtrians friends of mine born and bought up in mumbai for the last 40-50 years. If it were not for BT Mumbai would have been carved out as a state and we would have Abu Azmi as its chief minister. If BT was a muslim hater (as Vikram Doctor in ET implied), then Behrampada would have been razed 20 years ago and Sunil Dutt and then his daughter Priya Dutt would have never become an MP. BT saved our ass from muslim mobs in 1992. He saw to it that jobs are given to maharashtrian in many PSU's which were otherwise filled with north indians. I have nothing against any fellow Indians, but when Mulayam and Laloo use their political muscle, it is alright with MSM, but when BT does it was seen as radical and divisive. BT and Shiv Sena were the only force that prevented Congress from destroying, looting Maharashtra (of course the last ten years have shown us that it is difficult even for BT and SS to stop that trend). I am sad for Maharashtra since now it has no leader who can fight for the state. Pawar & Co. are more than happy to serve Delhi. Alas, the demise of BT has weakened the case for federalism and India will soon be no different than the country it used be under Mughal rule. Regionalism will be crushed through bills such as food security and direct cash transfers (centre takes from the states and gives it back to the people claiming that this is their money).BT's demise has left a void which cannot be filled. Today we do not have a single regional leader who can stop the Congress juggernaut and we all only go downhill from here..Just hope that BJP gets its act together before 2014.

Today, Proud Hindus of Maharashtra have lost their fatherly figure. quite few times I myself the admirer of him have disagreed his politics. I know out there are some people who hate him but for me & thousands of MH Youth including budhist, our voice become orphan. I have seen many of Budhist, OBC, ST/SC irrespective their cast come under the umbrella of Baghava. His admirer are not only among the Marathas but also among Brahmin, OBC,ST/SC of MH. This is the first time I had tears in my eyes over the politicians death and my heart is full of emotion. These #PaidMedia will never understand what we have lost. indeed there are other & few will be born to give voice to these mute janata. unlike secular cities like of Gurgaon & Noida, women in Mumbai are safe and can roamed till midnight on street of Mumbai. we knew the era of Dawood & Don company and Balsaheb stand firm against all D Company. Yes, he had given them answer in their own language which D Party understand. Those people who call him Gunda do not understand "To fight with power, you must have bigger Power"

@Rajdeep sardesai : we dont want to see the fucking faces of Kumar Ketkar or other rats who did not have the gumption to attack him when he was live but now bitching him after his death. Show us the final rites of Bala Saheb.

1. Rajdeep Sardesai did clarify and apologize at the end if his 9PM news show.

2. The day when YSR was found dead in air craft accident, also happens to be the day of ganesh nimajjan / visarjan. And all those transporting the ganeshas (the idols) had to go mute without the bands and the baajas. By the way, this was a police dictate.

Oh, I am only making the first point just so Ravi can correct, if required. And the second point, I am actually adding to Ravi's comments and am saying that in YSR's case, it was not just the party, but the govt that was passing the dictat.

What say Rajdeep now - seeing the massive crowds. Surely cannot be fear. But media was showcasing it as fear of riots/violence looming large and saying that the government has taken all steps to maintain peace. The congress government can only maintain peace when the gathering itself is peaceful.

How about contrasting with the Azad Maidan goons of 11 August.

These MSM anchors are worst variety - only ones who can match them in their low standards are their masters - the "Sickular" Politicians & their ilk

Dear all. Rajdeep must be forgiven. A well cooked steak was sitting on his dining table, and when he saw that he lost his mental balance and thus discrimination. The smell, flavor and look of steak was overpowering to his senses. Even SG, devout Hindu, could not control him. Every judgement went out of the door.

@Ravi, poor RS is on the ropes after two left and one right jab. He has hit the floor. Please give him chance to stand up on his trembling knees before you throw your next punch. We all know that he is a brave fighter and will go down fighting than give up. Please keep punching every time he stands up. We are with you Ravi. Great fight and I am enjoying to see RS on rope.

Over the last few weeks, and especially in the last three days, I have found enough instances to believe that many of these 'media personalities' who wear their 'Liberal' label on their sleeve are actually filled with hatred for anyone whose views they find disagreeable.

It is almost as if they are vying for the attention of a 'publicly liberal' audience, and keep playing to the gallery.

I don't think we will see a balanced debate, where knowledgeable speakers on each side are given equal opportunity by neutral moderators while sparing the loaded, leading questions, on any of these controversy-generating issues any soon.

To my opinion, "Point Taken" is a mark of intellectual dishonesty. At that particular point, RS has to surrender to strong and intellectual argument put forward. Ravinar has intellectually knocked out RS and he will has to concede the defeat.But worst part is even then he is keeping his options open to persue his vested interest and agenda.

Another Great Article Ravi.Actually I am more angry on this Aaj Tak and ABP News reporter.How they were spreading fear among the people when news came out about Death of Bala Saheb.Instead of ease out tension this moron reporters were spreading rumors and deliberately repeating about "fear among people, they want to rush to their house fearing" and all that bulls***T.I just wonder why the hell government not taking any action against this kind of reporting

"India is broadly a country of immigrants (like North America) and 92-93 per cent of the people living in India today are not the original inhabitants but descendants of immigrants who came mainly from the north-west seeking a comfortable life in the sub-continent (see the article ‘What is India?’ on my blog justicekatju.blogspot.in and the video on the website kgfindia.com ).

The original inhabitants (the real bhumiputra) of India are the pre-Dravidian tribals, known as Adivasis (the Bhils, Gonds, Santhals, Todas, etc.) who are only 7-8 per cent of our population today."

Seriously speaking, the Mumbaikars don't give a rats ass about what someone sitting in some faroff AC office say about their Hero Balasaheb, fondly referred as just "Saheb" for past 40 years. The MSM bastards are now realising the Law of diminishing returns getting applied to them & hence are getting desperate.

The reaction of our "Secular" media was on the expected lines.They have very clear about the definition of the words "Secular" and "Communal".The name "Hindu" is synonymous to "Communal".The name "Muslim" or "Christian" is synonymous to "Secular".This is a very simple, straight forward equation.It is very easy to become "Secular" - be "Anti Hindu"!!

BT spoke about protecting the "Hindu" society and hence is has to be "Communal".Our media being "Secular", it can only spew venom on the "Communal" BT!!Remember, you might get paid for being "Secular"......what does our men in the media get for being "Communal"!?

it is un-Indian to spit venom against a person who is no longer in the body. [although i would give exemption to those people who criticized ONLY the policies pursued by the Departed Person].secondly,it cannot be denied that the Soul was super-powerful, in view of the turnout that we saw on the streets of Mumbai.thirdly, it is every patriot's right to express what s/he feels about a POLICY in National Interest.it is the era of Media, which is trying to create its own influence on every aspect of our life. be it Anna's and Kejriwal's Anti-Corruption movement [which may have ONLY media support], or a dual murder of Ponty Chaddha and his brother [which is totally irrelevant to the national life]. most of the time we find that the investigation is being influenced and sometime even the Courts are being guided [as in the case of Magistrate taking cognizance against the Tweeting Mumbai girls- by no less a person than Kiran Bedi]. these are people who were not able to make it to the offices of power and have used their positions in the media to pursue their brand of politics. Only Arnab Goswami and Rahul Kanwal seem to be non-partisan, but they also seem to be pursuing their agendas.it is very difficult to be/remain abjectly neutral in reporting a matter to the people, and that is what should be done. when a [un-premeditated] mishap occurred in Patna during chhath, media started Government bashing, little realizing that Chhath is so all-pervading that practically every Hindu-staff asks for leave and there is so much reverence for Chhath in Bihari minds that no body will dare make a callous mistake [in building the bridge] even if s/he is not a Hindu. Goswami ji has given the clear dictum in certain matters pertains to the domain of Cosmic powers- "haani, labh, jeevan, maran, yash, apyash Vidhi haath" there is little one can do about these aspects on his/her life and there is no point in losing one's sleep over such matters.

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